7.01.2010

How sexy is the new cover for my agency sis Carrie Harris' zombie book? MY WORD. I'm fanning myself and chugging an entire pitcher of lemonade. I want to devour this novel NOW. (It comes out next July. *sniff*) That's winning the cover lottery if I've ever seen it.

So! I'm on vacation! Yippee!! Apologies to those who have already seen this picture on Twitter:

But it's the only good one I have. My camera keeps fogging up from the humidity! I wanted to take a picture of a sailboat yesterday and make a cheesy quip about how sailboats are so '80s, but no luck.

You'll have to pretend there's a picture of a sailboat here. If it helps, the sail was white with pink and orange stripes. (LIKE ANY SELF-RESPECTING '80s SAILBOAT WOULD BE.)

During the day, I've been sleeping, eating, and reading, and doing most of it in a rocking chair. At night, I find myself taking long walks along the shoreline. It's as if I can't walk enough. I never tire, and it feels like I could walk forever. My legs and heart are restless.

I've been thinking a lot about The Darjeeling Limited. The film is about three brothers (Jason "will one day realize he's Steph's best friend" Schwartzman, Adrien "best nose in Hollywood" Brody, and Owen "shouldn't be allowed to make movies without Wes Anderson" Wilson) who are dealing with, well, issues. And they're traveling by train across India with an exquisitely strange and burdensome amount of luggage.

(Fun fact: the luggage was designed by Louis Vuitton!)

There's a scene at the end—which I imagine made most film critics roll their eyes, but that I've always loved—when the brothers are racing to catch the train home and they literally have to shed their baggage to catch it.

I think that's what's happening with my restless night walking. It's as if the farther I walk, the more baggage I shed. The last year of my life is slipping away, and I'm heading toward something new.

Something better.

These days, I often find myself thinking about the last thirteen months, in which I destroyed myself while working on Anna revisions and writing Lola and the Boy Next Door. It would be easy—terrifyingly easy—to jump back into the same cycle while working on Lola revisions and writing Book Three. So the question on my mind is: How do I keep from repeating last year? Some of the things were out of my control and couldn't be helped, but most of the damage was self-inflicted. Most of it came from a scared new author trying to figure out how to make this NEW life work.

Who knew having your dream come true could be so . . . challenging?

I have made mistakes in my daily life. MOUNTAINS UPON MOUNTAINS of mistakes. But I'm learning from them. And some day, when my thoughts have solidified, I'll share what these hard lessons have taught me. Maybe they'll help someone else.

Goodbye, Bad Year. See you never again ever.

So . . . this week has been GOOD.

There have been many good things! Alexa and Jessica Shea both sent me pictures from the big ALA conference last weekend. EEK! THANK YOU!!

DUDE. THERE WAS A POSTER.

SERIOUSLY. A POSTER.

And I heard from two people that the Penguin booth ran out of advanced copies of my book! And while it isn't the type to have a bazillion copies printed, this is still awesome happy-making news. Thank you so, so much to everyone who picked one up.

It's like they're on a date! Fingers crossed for hand-holding and paper-cut kisses!

Thanks, Jessica, for that AMAZING picture. I grin like a fool every time I see it.

Everything is getting real now. It's strange to be in this position where people are actually reading my book. I mean, I realize that's the ultimate goal, but truthfully? This is where it gets nerve-wracking.

PEOPLE ARE READING (*cough* JUDGING) MY BOOK. RIGHT NOW.

Because of this, I've been making an effort to get Anna into the hands of as many friends as possible—people who will help me build that cushion of comfort, so when the going gets tough (I am looking at you, future nasty one-star Goodreads reviews), I'll have their kind words to fall back on.

So to everyone who has sent me such WONDERFUL emails this week (and you know who you are), please allow me to thank you from the bottom of my heart. Your words mean the world to me.

Also . . . advanced copies are arriving into the hands of other authors! I exploded with surprised joy when I opened up my Twitter feed today and found a stream of comments, including these:

Thank you Suzanne, Lindsey, (and Kimberly!). It's still near-impossible to believe that OTHER AUTHORS are READING MY BOOK.

WHEN DID THIS BECOME MY LIFE??

On top of this (!), ANNA RECEIVED ANOTHER BLURB:“No one captures the exhilarating and exhausting ‘but-does-he-like-me?!’ question better than Stephanie Perkins. A scrumptious read.” — Justina Chen, author of NORTH OF BEAUTIFUL

Justina is one of the super-cool Readergirlz and has written three novels, the latest of which I've heard nothing but great things. (And it got a starred review from Booklist!) The description sounds fantastic:

"From behind, you’d think Terra Cooper had it all: she’s tall but not too tall, has a figure to kill for, and boasts naturally blonde hair. But the palm-sized birthmark on her face might as well be her fate map. Everyone in her small, touristy town knows what’s hidden beneath the heavy makeup she’s worn since birth. Sick of being the town oddity and even sicker of her caustic mapmaker of a father, Terra yearns to escape the suffocating grid of her life. And then she nearly runs over an Asian Goth boy, her age . . . and encounters True Beauty in him . . . and herself."

It's been on my to-read list for months, so it's safe to say I'll be devouring it the moment I get home. I can't wait!

And now I'll leave you with a list of things seen on tonight's beach walk: green fireworks, young boys chasing crabs with flashlights, sandcastles being erased by the tide, a dark sky filled with stars, and one lonely golden planet.

Happiness. A good week.

EDITED TO ADD: *faints* *cries* These just in from my first book blogger! And THIS is why I love Twitter. Thank you for capping off a perfect day, The Hiding Spot:

FURTHER ADDED: I will stop bragging now.

EVEN FURTHER ADDED: But I really like the idea of other people typing "St. Clair."

I have no idea where you live, but I am coming to your house and highjacking your computer so I can read LOLA AND THE BOY MASTERPIECE. And whatever you have written of book 3. My mind is racing because all I can think about is how much I LOVED your book. Part of me wants to give it each and everyone of my friends and my sisters... and the other part of me wants to keep it with me at all times so I can go back and read all my favorite parts. Like the Christmas emails. And the Thanksgiving break scenes... and oh my gosh I need to go to sleep because it's 4 am.

You rock Steph. Plain and simple. THANK YOU for such an amazing story.

Aw, this is such a great post. How great that you've found some peace! You deserve it!

As writers, it's easy to torture ourselves. I wouldn't know or understand that feeling of being a new author, and the pressure that goes with that, but I understand the feeling of wanting everyone to love your work!

Carrie's cover is AWESOME.

I'm glad your chillaxing. Taking a breather. We all need that sometimes!

Stephanie, I love your blog posts. They light up my day always. YAY for the great responses to the book - I really can't wait to devour it. YAY for the next blurb - it's a fascinating one; it says a lot about the writing and the book.

The other day Mimi & I were sitting in line with some friends waiting for a movie and our conversation kept going something like..."Did you guys know (insert interesting fact/story we learned from Etienne St. Clair)?" That is right we are cooler people from knowing Etienne St. Clair.

Glad you got some pics of the poster and display copy! I checked my one photo that it could have been on, but I think I just missed it on the edges.

Justina's North of Beautiful is awesome; hope you enjoy it! And that's awesome she blurbed it. I think I'd die if I ever got published and Justina blurbed my book. Well, I might die twice cuz of the whole being published thing, and then from the Justina blurb, haha.

Yay for all the awesome tweets! I now really want to read Anna even more than I already did. I think I may have to read it after I finish Real Live Boyfriends.

You SO deserve this, Steph. ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS is the kind of book that, when you've finished, you want to flip back to the beginning and start over - except it's five in the morning - so you settle for going back to read your favorite parts before hitting the pillow. And you hope you dream about it. Thanks again! *mwah*

YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!! SO DESERVED! All of it! I knew Anna and St. Clair would be majorly beloved. Love love love :-) Now it's just a matter of unleashing them into the hands of girls and women EVERYWHERE. Steph, I'm so happy for you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love Carrie's cover. Too cool! For taking pictures out in the heat and humidity, it will help if you put the camera out on the deck or something for a while before you want to take pictures. The problem is from a camera that's been in air conditioning and is super cold meeting with the outside atmosphere. Just ignore me if you already knew that. Hope the vacay is continuing to go well.

Hi, there! I'm Steph, and I wrote ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS, LOLA AND THE BOY NEXT DOOR, and ISLA AND THE HAPPILY EVER AFTER. I also edited the romantic holiday anthology MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME and the upcoming SUMMER DAYS & SUMMER NIGHTS.